No one is sure who this person really was, although he certainly did exist. Over the course of centuries, over 4000 texts have been written on the subject. Each author has had his own unique opinion, and to date there are roughly 60 people who have been suspected of being the Man in the Iron Mask.

I visited the island of St. Marguerite in France this summer, where there is a prison in which this prisoner lived for 11 years before being transfered to variuous other prisons. I visited his prison cell, and can safely say that I can not think of a much bleaker existence than the one which he lived. He lived in a small, rock chamberthat contained a single window. This window contained three sets of irongrates, the guide explained, not only so that the prisoner could not escape, but also so that he could never throw a message out the window, or in any way communicate with the outside world. His identity was such a closely-guarded secret that after he died in the Bastille, his cell in St. Marguerite was cleaned thoroughly, and every piece of furntiute in the room was burned, so that if, for example, he had ever carved a message into his bed, no one would find it.